A group of third graders has taken a stand on an environmental issue – and won. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports, they’ve convinced their county legislature to approve a new law to protect wildlife:
Transcript
A group of third graders has taken a stand on an environmental issue – and won.
As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports, they’ve
convinced their county legislature to approve a new law to protect wildlife:
The students in Robyn Siegelman’s third grade class were concerned when they learned about the health problems encountered by animals that accidentally swallow balloons.
So, for Earth Day, they decided to lobby their county legislature to prohibit people from releasing large numbers of balloons into the environment. According to Siegelman, the students showed up at the Suffolk County legislature in Long Island with picket
signs and speeches.
“They spoke in front of the 18 legislators and the legislators were very impressed with their speeches and the research they had done and the thought that went into what they had to say.”
The legislators recently voted to ban the release of 25 or more balloons into the air at one time. The bill still has to be signed by the county executive. But Siegelman says the students have already learned important lessons – about the environment and their
ability to protect it.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.